How Miles4Migrants is Reuniting Families using your Airline Miles for Good

“The people that we help have all experienced great trauma – they’ve all had to flee their home countries, find themselves in a new community without much support, and have been separated from their families, often for years on end. We simply want to give them a leg up, so that they can start anew, and contribute to their new communities in the way they want to, without the burden of debt, and with the support of their loved ones. We want them to thrive, not just survive,” said Freedman.

I ask Freedman what the organization has managed to do so far.

“Together, we’ve flown over 1,600 people since their creation in 2016, reunited 600+  families, and redeemed over 27 million frequent flyer miles with over $700k in cash value. We help asylees, asylum seekers and refugees globally; in 2019 alone, we have flown 380 individuals internationally and - with the worsening of the U.S. border crisis last year -  708 individuals within the United States.

Freedman reflected on some of the stories of people who have been helped. “Summarizing the stories of the people we’ve helped in a few words doesn’t do justice to the adversity they’ve faced, and the triumphs they’ve achieved: from reuniting an Ethiopian mother with her children and husband after she was forced to flee for publicly stating her political beliefs, to helping reunite Honduran children and their parents after an anxious separation at the US border, we’ve been privileged to help these remarkable people on their journey to seek a better life.” 

I asked him how the idea came about. “The three cofounders, Nick, Seth and myself, all met on a Reddit thread, drawn by a shared passion of repurposing frequent flyer miles to help the global refugee crisis. Prior to this, I had started to listen to the problems faced by recently resettled refugees, and found out about the huge challenges they face in the process.  Most refugees lack the basic support to thrive in a new home; they have very little money, can’t speak the language, have limited family to rely on, face challenges finding employment, and often have to take on a loan to pay back the cost of their travel to their receiving country. This last point struck me as an absurd but solvable challenge. Not least because so many people I knew, in my personal and business life, could offset the cost of a flight with their frequent flyer miles.”

The organization has grown in leaps and bounds. “We've received more miles this year than ever before. We now have a dedicated team of volunteers to book flights, a staff of 3, and have received a generous, joint $800K  grant from TripAdvisor and the Shapiro Foundation to help make what can be a very complex booking process more seamless. However, like any new organization, we’re still facing growing pains, and are working through ways to make sure that the people we help, our donors, and our NGO partners all have a great experience with the service we provide them. We are also constantly looking to work with corporate sponsors who can assist us with not just backing but also the tools, technology and expertise we need to help us to grow.” 

Ed Shapiro, of The Shapiro Foundation said “We’re thrilled to support Miles4Migrants on their journey to solve a societal issue we care deeply about.  There’s a massive number of refugees, asylees and asylum seekers around the globe in need of travel assistance and literally trillions of frequent flier miles available to meet this critical need.” Tali Golan, TripAdvisor, Director of Social Impact agreed. “TripAdvisor is keen to help organizations that solve challenges in a different way. That’s why we’re proud to be a sponsor of Miles4Migrants, an organization that fills a void and helps alleviate the burden of debt for so many vulnerable families.”

Here’s how you can help: 

Donating miles to help reunite a family is an easy 3 step process, and takes less than 30 minutes: 

1. Donors can follow this link, and pledge miles (takes less than a minute)

2. Once their NGO partners identify a family in need of your miles, the Miles4Migrants team of flight bookers reach out to you to fulfill your pledge

3. Their team of flight bookers will then use your miles information to book a flight, and the family is then reunited 

Freedman provided some context. “The average number of miles needed for a single  flight is just under 20,000 and our flightbookers typically reach out to you between 1-3 months after you’ve pledged your miles. We accept miles from over 30 frequent flyer programs, as well as credit card points and monetary donations. We can also help companies run fundraisers internally, and engage their employees to be a part of what we are doing to help the refugee crisis.”

The organization is also unveiling a new partnership with United Airlines. “We are also thrilled to be a part of United’s new Miles on a Mission campaign, which allows United MileagePlus members to give miles - as few as 1,000 miles - to help us meet our 5 million mile campaign goal.This campaign will enable United MileagePlus members to donate as few as 1,000 miles to help reunite families, but we must meet our campaign goal of 5 million miles to secure any donation we receive by Friday, November 22nd.”